🚨 Legal Risk

Today Korean Social News for Beginners | 2025.09.09

0️⃣ Reducing Medical Staff Legal Burden and Solving Essential Healthcare Crisis

📌 Essential Healthcare Crisis: Reducing Medical Staff Legal Risk Emerges as Solution

💬 Korean medical staff face high levels of criminal and civil legal responsibility, making the problem of avoiding essential medical care worse. At a National Assembly public hearing, experts suggested that Korea should follow examples from Japan and New Zealand by removing criminal responsibility for minor mistakes and introducing a no-fault compensation system. Korean medical staff face much higher legal risks than overseas, causing serious avoidance of essential medical fields like obstetrics and emergency medicine. This is seen as a way to quickly help patients who are harmed while reducing legal risks in medical settings. System improvements that help both medical staff and patients are needed.

💡 Summary

• Legal risk means the possibility of facing criminal or civil lawsuits and being held legally responsible for specific actions.
• High legal risks for medical staff are making the problem of avoiding essential medical care worse.
• System improvements based on advanced country examples, such as introducing no-fault compensation systems and exempting minor mistakes, are being discussed.

1️⃣ Definition

Legal risk means the possibility that specific actions or events could lead to criminal or civil lawsuits and result in legal responsibility. In healthcare, it refers to the risk that medical staff might face criminal punishment or civil damage lawsuits due to medical errors or accidents that happen during treatment.

This legal risk directly affects how medical staff provide care, leading to passive treatment or avoiding certain medical specialties. Especially in high-risk essential medical fields like emergency medicine, obstetrics, and surgery, medical staff worry about legal burdens and may choose not to work in these areas or be reluctant to provide active treatment.

💡 Why is this important?

• Medical staff's legal burden directly affects the quality and accessibility of patient care.
• It's directly connected to the shortage of medical staff in essential medical fields.
• Reasonable system improvements that help both patients and medical staff are needed.
• A balanced approach for medical development and patient safety is important.

2️⃣ Problems and Current Status of Medical Legal Risk

📕 High Legal Burden on Korean Medical Staff

• They face excessive criminal punishment risk compared to other countries. The main realities are:

  • In Korea, when medical accidents happen, criminal charges and civil lawsuits often proceed at the same time.
  • Even minor mistakes can result in criminal punishment under professional negligence causing death or injury laws.
  • The system requires individual medical staff to take direct legal responsibility.
  • Medical malpractice insurance exists but cannot exempt criminal responsibility.

• The avoidance of essential medical fields is getting worse. Main problems include:

  • Obstetrics has seen a sharp drop in doctor applications due to high legal risks from delivery accidents.
  • Emergency medicine requires quick decisions in emergency situations, but the burden of responsibility afterward is large.
  • Surgical departments worry about legal burden from complications that can occur during surgery.
  • Rural medical institutions find it even harder to find doctors in these specialties.

📕 Limitations of Current Medical Dispute Resolution System

• The Korea Medical Dispute Mediation and Arbitration Agency is underused. Main current status:

  • Since its establishment in 2012, it has achieved some success in resolving disputes but still has limitations.
  • Many cases go directly to court rather than using mediation.
  • Satisfaction and trust in mediation results need improvement.
  • Both medical staff and patients lack awareness of the mediation system.

• A lawsuit-centered dispute resolution structure makes problems worse. Main problems include:

  • When medical accidents occur, most cases involve both civil lawsuits and criminal charges at the same time.
  • During the lawsuit process, both medical staff and patients must bear large time and financial burdens.
  • Hostile relationships form, focusing on blame rather than fundamental problem solving.
  • The focus is on punishment rather than patient relief, providing limited practical help.

💡 Main Problems of Korean Medical Legal Risk

1. Excessive Criminal Punishment: Criminal responsibility imposed even for minor mistakes, causing medical staff to become passive
2. Double Burden: Structure where civil lawsuits and criminal charges proceed simultaneously
3. Essential Medical Avoidance: Sharp drop in applications for high legal risk specialties
4. Passive Treatment: Increased tendency toward conservative treatment due to legal burden concerns
5. Regional Medical Gaps: Worsened access to essential medical care, especially in rural areas

3️⃣ International Examples and Domestic Introduction Plans

✅ Japan's Medical Accident Investigation System

• A system focused on preventing recurrence rather than criminal punishment. Main features:

  • The medical accident investigation system introduced in 2015 requires medical institutions to investigate unexpected death cases themselves.
  • An independent Medical Accident Investigation and Support Center investigates causes from a neutral position.
  • Investigation results are used only as data for preventing recurrence and improving medical quality.
  • It focuses on prevention through system improvement and education rather than criminal punishment.

• A culture of voluntary reporting and learning by medical staff has been established. Main effects:

  • Medical staff can report accidents without fear of punishment.
  • System-level improvements can be found through accident cause analysis.
  • Guidelines and educational materials are accumulated to prevent similar accidents.
  • Clear cause explanations can be provided to patients and families.

✅ New Zealand's No-Fault Compensation System

• An innovative system that compensates harm regardless of fault. Main content:

  • The Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) compensates all medical-related harm from national funds.
  • Compensation decisions are based only on patient harm facts, not whether medical staff were at fault.
  • It provides comprehensive support including treatment costs, income loss, and rehabilitation expenses.
  • Damage compensation lawsuits are basically prohibited.

• It's evaluated as a system that helps both patients and medical staff. Main advantages:

  • Patients can receive quick and certain compensation without lawsuit burden.
  • Medical staff can focus only on patient treatment, freed from lawsuit risks.
  • Society as a whole can save lawsuit costs and time.
  • It has the effect of improving trust relationships between medical staff and patients.

4️⃣ Related Terms

🔎 Professional Negligence Causing Death or Injury

• A crime applied when someone is injured or killed due to professional negligence.
  • Professional negligence causing death or injury is a crime defined in Article 268 of the Criminal Code, applied when someone causes death or injury by neglecting necessary care in their professional duties. For medical staff, this can be applied when they harm patients by not fulfilling their duty of care during treatment.
  • The requirements for this crime include: First, there must be a professional duty of care. Medical staff have a duty of care according to medical standards when treating patients. Second, there must be negligence that violates this duty of care. Third, death or injury must result from this negligence. Fourth, a causal relationship between the negligence and result must be recognized.
  • The punishment is imprisonment for up to 5 years or a fine of up to 20 million won, which is heavier than general negligent homicide or injury. For medical staff, this provision causes considerable legal burden and is pointed out as one of the main causes of avoiding essential medical care.

🔎 Korea Medical Dispute Mediation and Arbitration Agency

• An institution that resolves disputes through mediation and arbitration instead of court battles when medical accidents occur.
  • The Korea Medical Dispute Mediation and Arbitration Agency was established in 2012 according to the Medical Dispute Mediation Act to quickly and fairly resolve disputes between patients and medical staff. It operates as a special corporation under the Ministry of Health and Welfare, with mediation committees including medical staff, legal professionals, and general citizens resolving disputes.
  • Main duties include: First, medical dispute mediation resolves disputes through agreement between parties. Second, arbitration work makes binding arbitration decisions when parties agree to arbitration. Third, expert assessment professionally judges the causes and fault of medical accidents. Fourth, consultation work provides legal counseling on medical disputes.
  • Advantages include being able to resolve disputes faster and cheaper than court lawsuits, and having expert committee members accurately judge medical issues. However, utilization is still low and trust in mediation results needs improvement.

🔎 Medical Malpractice Insurance

• Insurance that medical staff or medical institutions join to compensate for damages from medical accidents.
  • Medical malpractice insurance is a system that provides insurance coverage for civil damage compensation responsibility from medical accidents that can occur during medical staff's treatment process. It has been designated as mandatory insurance for medical staff since 2008 and is operated as group insurance by the Korean Medical Association.
  • Coverage includes: First, paying damage compensation for patient life and body harm from medical accidents. Second, supporting lawsuit costs or lawyer appointment fees within certain limits. Third, paying settlement or mediation money from insurance. Fourth, insurance companies appoint professional lawyers to help with legal responses.
  • However, medical malpractice insurance has the limitation of only covering civil damage compensation while not exempting criminal responsibility. Also, insurance premiums are applied differently by medical specialty, so high-risk specialties must bear high insurance premiums. For these reasons, medical malpractice insurance alone cannot completely solve medical staff's legal risks.

5️⃣ Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q: Won't reducing medical staff's legal risk cause more medical accidents?

A: Actually, appropriate legal risk reduction has the effect of improving medical safety.

• Looking at international examples, countries that reduced excessive legal burden on medical staff often saw improved medical safety. First, it can prevent medical staff from being conservative in treatment or reluctant to perform necessary procedures due to legal burden. Second, when accidents occur, they can openly disclose them rather than hiding or minimizing them, analyzing causes and finding improvement measures. Third, a culture where medical staff voluntarily report accidents without fear of punishment becomes established. Fourth, focusing on system improvement rather than individual punishment enables fundamental medical safety improvement.

• However, this doesn't mean completely exempting medical staff from responsibility. The idea is to still hold them responsible for intentional or gross negligence, while providing reasonable exemption for minor mistakes or unavoidable situations. Through this, systems can be improved in ways that help both medical staff and patients.

Q: Won't introducing a no-fault compensation system create too much cost burden?

A: Initial costs are involved, but long-term cost savings effects for society as a whole are large.

• While no-fault compensation systems create short-term burden on government or insurance funds, they bring cost savings effects in various areas long-term. First, complex and long medical lawsuits decrease, saving court workload and judicial costs. Second, both medical staff and patients don't have to bear lawsuit costs or lawyer fees. Third, patients can receive quick treatment and rehabilitation, reducing long-term medical costs. Fourth, medical staff don't need to practice defensive medicine, reducing unnecessary tests or procedures.

• In New Zealand's case, medical lawsuit costs were greatly reduced through the no-fault compensation system, and patient satisfaction also greatly improved. Also, medical staff could focus only on treatment, improving the quality of medical services. If Korea introduces this gradually, it's expected to achieve large effects compared to costs.

Q: Won't reducing medical staff's legal risk negatively affect patient rights protection?

A: Actually, systems can be designed so patients receive faster and more certain relief.

• The current system requires very long time for medical accident victims to receive relief, makes it hard to win lawsuits, and even if they win, requires complex processes to actually receive compensation. In contrast, advanced countries' no-fault compensation systems provide better protection for patients. First, compensation can be received based only on harm facts without needing to prove medical staff's fault. Second, compensation happens quickly without going through lawsuits. Third, comprehensive support is provided including not only treatment costs but also income loss and rehabilitation costs. Fourth, appropriate relief can be received without worsening relationships with medical staff.

• Also, reducing medical staff's legal risk can lead to better medical services. When legal burden decreases, medical staff can communicate more honestly with patients, actively perform necessary treatments, and more medical staff can participate in essential medical fields. As a result, a virtuous cycle structure that helps both patients and medical staff can be created.

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